John Thune Plans to Squeeze Every Last Minute Out of Republican Control

Senate Republicans just settled their leadership squabbles, and now they’re doing something rare in Washington. They’re actually planning to work.

John Thune won another term leading Senate Republicans, and he’s made it clear that the next 54 days won’t be business as usual. We’re talking extended calendars, longer hours, more votes. The kind of grinding legislative schedule that makes career politicians uncomfortable but gets things done. Thune said they’re "committed to being here to do whatever it takes to get as much done as we can." That’s not typical Senate speak. That’s a man who understands his window is closing fast.

The original plan had the Senate in session roughly 20 days between now and when Democrats seize control. Twenty days. You know what you can accomplish in twenty days in the Senate? Not much, if we’re being honest. But Republicans aren’t settling for the original plan. They’re maximizing every hour, every vote, every opportunity to push through what matters before Chuck Schumer and his party take the reins.

At their closed-door meeting Tuesday, GOP senators agreed to a resolution that lays out their sprint to the finish line. The goal is straightforward but ambitious: confirm every judicial nominee, confirm every executive branch nominee the conference approves, pass core Republican priorities, and somehow squeeze in a reconciliation bill before January 3rd. That last part might be the trickiest piece of the puzzle.

Budget reconciliation is legislative jiu-jitsu. It lets you bypass the filibuster, but the rules are tight and the Senate parliamentarian doesn’t mess around. Ron Johnson, who chairs the Budget Committee, plans to present his framework to Republicans soon. The SAVE America Act, or some version that can survive the rules referee, might get rolled into the package. Johnson told reporters it would provide funding for states to strengthen election integrity measures. Because if there’s one thing we learned these past few years, it’s that Americans want confidence in their elections.

Defense spending represents another battleground. Democrats, led by Schumer, are dead set on using their control of the purse to strangle funding for operations related to Iran. It’s a power play disguised as oversight. Thune acknowledged that defense dollars might need to flow through reconciliation if Democrats won’t play ball on regular appropriations. "It’s going to depend on whether or not they have any of their members who are persuaded that making sure that we have enough munitions and ammo and weaponry to be able to defend the country is a priority," he said.

That’s the polite way of saying some things shouldn’t be political footballs. National defense used to be one of those things where both parties could find common ground. Not anymore, apparently.

Then there’s the confirmation battle. The White House has sent up 23 judicial nominees and nearly 100 executive branch nominees waiting for Senate approval. Many still need committee hearings. That’s a massive workload compressed into less than two months. Every judge confirmed now is one less seat Democrats can fill when they take over. Every executive branch position locked in means Trump’s agenda gets implemented by people who actually believe in it.

The judiciary matters more than most people realize. These aren’t just bureaucratic appointments. Federal judges serve for life. They shape law, interpret the Constitution, and set precedents that affect every American. Getting constitutional conservatives on the bench isn’t just good politics. It’s essential for preserving limited government and individual liberty for generations.

Katie Britt from Alabama, who sits on the Appropriations Committee, pointed out that clearing the decks on government funding makes sense. "Where we can clear the decks, the better," she said. Before the election, some Democrats seemed open to hammering out a deal. But political winds shifted after Republicans got shellacked in the midterms, and now everything’s more complicated.

Welcome to Washington, where cooperation depends on who’s winning.

Here’s what strikes me about this whole situation. Republicans are treating their remaining time in power like it actually matters. They’re not going through the motions or accepting defeat. They’re fighting for every nominee, every vote, every priority they can push across the finish line. That’s how you govern when you understand that elections have consequences and time is finite.

The reconciliation bill will test whether Republicans can keep their priorities narrow enough to pass. Thune acknowledged they need to "keep it realistic" if they want any chance of success. That’s wisdom born from watching too many ambitious legislative packages collapse under their own weight. The temptation in reconciliation is always to cram everything into one bill since you only get limited shots at it. But overreach kills bills faster than opposition does.

Fifty-four days isn’t much time. In the Senate, where everything moves at glacial speed by design, it’s barely a blink. But it’s what they’ve got. Republicans plan to work longer, vote more, and confirm as many people as possible before Democrats take control and grind everything to a halt.

This is governance with urgency. It’s what happens when a party remembers what it’s supposed to fight for and decides the fight matters more than comfort. Whether they can actually pull off this ambitious sprint remains to be seen. But at least they’re trying. At least someone in Washington understands that the clock is ticking and opportunities don’t last forever.

Related: Illegal Immigrant Faces 40 Years After Allegedly Using Truck to Strike ICE Agents in Texas